An eight year-old girl from Wickford is on the verge of having her hair cut to raise money for a terminally-ill friend.

Isabelle Keevil, from Haslemere Road in Wickford, is aiming to raise £300 and is donating her locks to charity after hearing that five year-old friend Olivia Gregory had been diagnosed with an inoperable and aggressive brain tumour called a Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG).

DIPG has a 0 per cent survival rate, with the average survival time being around nine months from diagnosis. Just ten per cent of children survive for two years after diagnosis and one per cent live for five years after diagnosis.

Read More

After being diagnosed at Great Ormond Street Hospital in June 2017, Olivia has already undergone emergency neurosurgery to implant a ‘shunt’ in her brain to relieve the symptom of Hydrocephalus (fluid on the brain) caused by the tumour, as well as biopsy surgery to remove tissue around her brain and six weeks of radiotherapy at UCLH London.

Speaking about her daughter’s incredible kindness to try and do anything to help save her friend, Isabelle’s mum Sarah, who also has a four year-old daughter called Tallulah, told Essex Live: “I was brushing Isabelle’s hair one morning and because it is so long and thick, we were having the same argument like most mothers and their daughters have every morning about the amount of knots in her hair.

“She turned to me and said that she wanted to get her hair cut, to which I said that she wasn’t allowed because her hair is really nice and long.

Isabelle Keevil with her mum Sarah

“Isabelle then said to me that she wanted to get it cut so that she can raise money for Olivia and so that she can donate her hair, to which I couldn’t really say no.

“At first, I was shocked because although Isabelle is aware that Olivia is poorly, she has never really mentioned it because kids are very resilient and they just get on with it.

“I didn’t really know that Isabelle had been thinking about it too much and when she told me what she wanted to do, I was really shocked at the kindness and thoughtfulness.

“I’ve explained to her that her hair won’t just grow back overnight and what it involves, but she understands and I’m just immensely proud of her for wanting to do something so kind for a friend.”

Sarah, who co-runs Facebook group Crimewatch Wickford, met Olivia’s mum Clare Gregory a number of years ago, where they bonded over the fact that they both had daughters of similar ages.

Having grown an extremely close bond with the Gregory family, Sarah admitted that the news shocked her family and that is was heart-breaking that there is nothing they can do to keep Olivia alive.

“Olivia and her family are really close friends of ours,” she continued.

“Clare and I met a couple of years ago and because we've both got two girls each of similar ages, we have all become very close.

Sarah bonded with friend Clare Gregory as they both had two girls of similar ages

“It is devastating because you go from one minute where you are seeing the family and everything is normal and happy to hearing that Olivia is ill and there is no return from it.

“It isn’t just hearing the news though because you also see it every week that you go round to visit, when you see Olivia that little bit more poorly and it is heart-breaking really.

“I can’t even imagine what they are going through as a family and there is nothing we can do to help apart from helping to fundraise and offer them our love and support.